And He Didn't Wear a Pencil Skirt
by sweet-sue-sparrow
Summary: It's a Terrible Life au. Dean smith was not expecting the new secretary to be- this. Castiel Novak is a weird guy with a weird name and on top of that he's not an attractive woman. But somehow, Dean finds he doesn't mind so much. As his relationship with Cas becomes more intimate, the mystery that surrounds the secretary only deepens.


The new secretary was a man. Admittedly, Dean had been picturing a woman, curvy and attractive; the classic model complete with pencil skirt and cherry-red lipstick. The new guy did not wear a pencil skirt.

There was something indescribably odd about the man. It was not his appearance –lean, pale, dark haired- but his manner. His back was a little too straight, his gaze -a strange shade of blue- was a little too intense. It gave him the look of a set in a play; all thin, plywood walls, pretending to be solid. There as, n doubt, some darker place behind them. Cavernous, so as to contain the ropes and pullies that simulated humanity –albeit rather poorly. In short he was too good to be true, there had to be some dark secret there.

He showed up for work the first day in a raincoat, this despite the fact that it was 75 and sunny outside. When Dean came to meet him he was standing awkwardly by his new desk, which he had not adorned with personal effects.

"So you're the new guy, huh?" He extended his hand and the other man shook it awkwardly. "It's Castiel right? Cas. Is it okay if I call you Cas? Nice to meet you. I'm Dean Smith, Dean. Just 'cause I'm your boss doesn't mean you have to be formal with me, that's really not my style."

For a moment –only a moment- there was a strange look in Cas's eyes, something pained, almost, but then it was gone.

"You okay man?" He asked.

"Yes. I'm fine. When do I start?"

"Uh, now I guess. Here," Dean leaned on Cas's desk. "You probably already know all this stuff, but just in case, the scheduling stuff is pretty basic. I have a packed schedule basically every day but you seem like an organized guy, so that shouldn't be an issue. With calls, you let them know that they've reached me, then let me know who's calling and I'll tell you if it's important. If it isn't just say 'Mr. Smith is not available right now, can I take your message? We good?" Dean paused to check the other man's reaction. Cas nodded, looking intently at him.

"Yes." He said.

"Great. I'll leave you to it then."

As soon as he was back in his office, Dean broke into a wide grin. Seriously, the guy was a total mystery. This wasn't to say he wasn't good, he was fine. Cas was as apt at his simple job as one could hope. He kept Dean's appointments, answered the phone and put calls through with the kind of plodding efficiency of one determined to succeed at a menial job.

Lunch rolled around and Dean pulled out a Tupperware full of salad. This diet, man, it was driving him crazy. He leaned out the door to check on Cas. The man was still seated obediently at his desk, a lock of dark brown hair falling infuriatingly into his face. Of course he wasn't eating, that only furthered his android-like persona.

"I'm on lunch," Dean called, "don't let anyone through unless it's really important."

"Alright."

Dean thought that despite his not being a woman, Cas made an excellent secretary if only because it would be a joy to hear his voice over the phone. His voice low and rough, but soft around the edges like a cat's purring. Not that Dean put a lot of thought into Cas's voice.

From the "Mr. Smith is unavailable right now, can I take your message?" Word for fucking word.

The rest of the day was quiet, standard. He stayed a little late, he had a busy life, deadlines to meet. By the time he left, the sun was well and gone. He ate the rest of the salad he'd had for lunch for dinner. It was funny, he could afford to eat out every night if he wanted to, but instead he ate leftover salad alone in his apartment.

The next day he had a meeting upstairs. He left Cas answering the phone better than the machine did, and ascended the elevator to the drowsy heat of the 25th floor. The meeting was not long, but it felt long. They were talking about that guy from tech support who died a few days back. How could suicide be so boring? He found his thoughts drifting back to that enigma who served as his secretary.

Cas gave him an odd feeling. Something like déjà vu but still more subtle. Really, he knew he had never met the guy before in his life, he would have remembered if he had. But that voice, those eyes, he couldn't shake it.

"Smith? Mr. Smith? Dean, you listening? Meeting's over."

"Yeah, sorry Mr. Adler."

"It's fine, it's fine, no big deal." The older man, similar in facial structure to a frog and only slightly less bald, laid a hand on Dean's shoulder. "How's the new secretary working out?"

"Great. He's great." The two men made their way back to the elevator.

"Good. Good. It's Novak, right?"

Dean nodded, "Cas Novak. Castiel, actually, weird name."

Mr. Adler smiled. "I guess it is. Listen, do you mind if I steal him for second when we get to your floor?"

"Not at all, sir." But Dean couldn't help but wonder why. Something in the older man's voice made him want to refuse. For Cas's sake. Though he couldn't imagine what the poor guy had done to get Zach Adler on his ass.

There was a ping and the elevator doors drew apart. Even from there Dean could see the desk, could see Cas, flipping through the notebook that kept Dean's schedule. The way he sat, the way he looked at everything like it was the most interesting thing in the world, that man was a walking paradox and Dean couldn't tear his eyes away.

"Mr. Novak!" Cas did a double take, as if he didn't at first recognize the name.

The look he gave Mr. Adler was a mixture of fear and distrust that made Dean pause in the doorway and look back.

"Go ahead, Dean, I'll only keep Cas here for a second." Mr. Adler smiled and waved Dean off.

Dean closed his door then thought again and leaned against it to listen. Eavesdropping, he felt like a little kid.

"Zachariah."

"What are you doing here Castiel?"

"I'm just looking in. To make sure they're alright."

"They're fine, Castiel, they'll be fine. Now remember your place and get out."

"No."

"No? Oh, poor loyal Castiel. They don't remember you, they don't need you. Why don't you just poof away and wait for this whole exercise to be over?"

"I will not let you toy with them like this."

"They're happier like this than they'll ever be in the real world. Why not just let them enjoy it while it lasts?"

"I won't leave them."

"Fine, stay. Just look and see how happy they are before you come in here and ruin everything."

Dean stopped listening. Whatever code they were using it was beyond him. All of that loyalty and watching over people crap straight out of a bad TV drama. Obviously he was missing something and he sure as hell wasn't going to pry into the Boss's business. Then he saw Cas's face and all that changed.

The man was ashen faced, all wide blue eyes and quaking lips. Anxiety was etched in every line of his visage.

"Hey, Cas, you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." He fumbled with the schedule book.

"You don't sound fine. Hey, you know what? My day ends at five today. If you can stick it out till then we could go get drinks, on me."

"What?"

"Hey, man, I know Adler can be scary, if you need to talk it out, I'm here."

Cas just squinted at Dean like he was the strangest thing he'd ever seen.

"So, drinks, yes… no?"

"Yes."

"Great," Dean started back toward his office "five o'clock okay?"

"Okay."

Once he shut the door on Cas, he could do nothing but collapse against it. Did he seriously just ask Cas out for drinks? He had an open mind about these things, really, he did. But did he just ask the new guy, the secretary –who admittedly was kind of hot- to go get drinks with him? Damn it, he was Dean Smith, he dieted, he dedicated his life to work. Work, not going out with his secretary. That was unprofessional, that was cliché! But then who said this was a date? This was just drinks, this was just talking. That was all.

The hour and a half until five dragged itself out like it was years. The emails, the memos Dean had read dissolved into meaningless strings of letters. Damn it, _this _was why workplace romance was off limits. Did he just call it a romance? Fuck!

At last, at long last the clock on his wall released him. Dean loosened his tie a little as he packed up his brief case. Cas was at his desk, getting his raincoat.

"Hey," said Dean, "you still up for drinks?"

"Yes, I'm ready." It was like hw was standing at attention.

They didn't speak again until they were leaving the building. Cas stopped for a second when a man passed him. It was that guy from Tech Support, the absurdly tall one who had spoken to Dean in the elevator.

"You know that guy?" He asked.

A long pause. "No."

They walked through the busy concrete jungle of the financial district, past other men in ties and jackets. Other polished shoes, other briefcases.

"Where are we going?" Cas asked.

"I heard about this great place around here. Aaron from marketing research wouldn't shut up about the great atmosphere. I think that's it." He pointed to a black and white awning, a wooden sign that protruded from the monotony of glass fronted office buildings.

"Dean, I have a confession to make," the look on Cas's face was pure mortification. "I am not- accustomed to drinking. I don't remember liking it very much."

Maybe it was Cas's solemn tone, maybe it was sheer relief. Dean laughed, heartily.

"What?" Cas demanded, "why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry, it's just, I don't drink either. I'm on the cleanse."

"Oh."

Dean thought a moment. "You know what, screw the bar. You want to go for a walk?"

"Alight." Cas nodded stoically.

"So," the concrete had given way to the grass and shrubbery of a city park, "what did Adler want with you?"  
"It was nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing."

"Dean," Cas paused a long moment. "Would it be alright if we talked about you instead."

"Oh," Dean wasn't sure if Cas was being forward or just awkward. Nevertheless the indulged the other man. He told him about his family. His parents, his kid sister. He tried to ignore the slightly pained expression on Cas's face.

"Are you happy?" Dean stopped short. Cas had a hand on his arm and was looking intently at him.

"Yeah." It was almost a question.

The other man nodded.

"Cas look, is this –I've got to ask, is this- am I imagining that there's something going on here?"

"Something?"

"Something more than just two dudes on a walk."

"Oh," Cas looked truly confused, "but you're not-"

"The type? Trust me Cas, there's a lot more to me than meets the eye."

That squint, those blue eyes, questioning. He pulled Cas close, all of a sudden, and before he was aware of it, he was kissing the other man.

"Am I crazy?" He whispered against Cas's soft lips.

"No. You're not."


End file.
